Armored vehicle-tire.



. L. WILLIAMS.V ARMOBED AVIEIHIULII TIRE.

APPLIOATION HLED 11.3.12, 1906.

951,087. j Patented Mar. 1, 1910.

MARTINI.. WrLLIAMs'oF sourir amen, manina.

Specification of LetterslPatent.

l .Application led February 12, 1906. Serial No. 300,255?.

patenten atar. i, raie.

new and useful Im rovements in Armored Vehicle-Tires, of wiich the following is a. specication. j

rI`his invention relates t-o improvements in armored vehicle tires and refers more specifically to a mailed armor which maybe applied to any ordinary pneumatic or similar tire and which serves the purposes-of preventing punctures, preventing slipping or skidding of the wheel," if a traction Wheel, and protects the tire proper against wear.

Among the objects of 'the' invention are toprovide an armor 'which maybe readily adapted and applied to tires of various sizes and shapes; to provide a construction which 4etl'ectually protects the tread of the tire against accidental puncturing and laceration; to provide aconstruction which detracts but Vsligditly from the resilience and 5 elasticity of the tire; to provide a construc tion which insures a good traction grip and prevents the tire from slipping when used on a traction wheel; to provide a construction which is unaffected by the action of mud, ice and other untoward `conditions to which it is naturally subjected in the course of use, and in general to provide an improved construction of the character referred to. j

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described-and more particularly pointed out in Iche appended claim.

Referring to the drawing-Figure 1 is a crosslsectional view of an ordinary -pneumatic tire of the clencher typeequipped with my improved armor; Fig. 2 1s a plan view of a fragmentary portion of the tire shownin Fig. l; Figs. 3 and 4 are fplan and edge views, respectively, of one o the plates of which the armor is chiefly composed; Fig. 5 is a plan view of oneof the star-shaped links or clips used inuniting the plates; Fig. 6 'is an edge elevationl of the clip or link shown in Fig. l. Fig. 7 is a detailed viewof one of the retaining links.

In the preferred embodiment 'of the invenplates'which are individually so sha ed that vtheir edges provide a` plurality o salient and State of Indiana, have invented certainshown in Fig. 5 after it has been bent into A shape 'to unite the plates, for example as tion illustrated, 1 designates a vseries of angles 2;-the series of plates being also s o shaped that when arranged edge to ed e they fit together and form a substantial y complete covering for the tread portion of the tire. shown theplates are rectangular, and they are united with each other at each of their four corners by means of star-shaped links 3. These links-are of malleable nietal and have each of their four arms or prongs l inserted fromthe outside inwardly through a corresponding. aperture, as v5, in the sev- 'eral angles of the four plates which are tied together by each link, as shown clearly in Figs. 1 and 2. The prongs inserted through the plates are bent toward each other, as best seen in Fig. 6, so as to securely yet ilexibly unite the plates. It will be understood that the prongs of `the links or vclips will be bent inwardly toward each other suiiiciently to I drawthe edges of the plates into close proximity with each other, so that the joints In the preferred constructionformed between the meeting edges of the add tothe gripping ability of thetire, but

in order to still further insure against slipping and at the same time relieve the links from the greater part of the wear'which comes upon the tread of the Wheel, I provide bosses at the centers `of each of the plates, as indicated at 6. These bosses are desirably made integral with the plates, and the latter may be either castor struck up by means of suitablev dies. The height ofthe bosses is, as shown, somewhat greater than the thickness of the body portions of the uniting,

links so that the main weight upon the tread is borne by the'points of these bosses.

Obviously an armor constructed vas described may be secured upQntires in various ways, and the manner of lsecuring will be varied With different types of tires. In the particular instance illustrated, the tire designated as a whole -7 is of the .clencher type,

and is provided, as usual,- at itsinner edges with thickened ribs 8 which lit andare held Within they internal grooves 9 of a clencher `rim'lO. As a spcial feature of improvement, I provide upon the armor, adapted'to such atire, a series of specially shaped retaining links 11 connectedat suitable intervals' apart along each edge of the armor; each-'link being provided at its upper end with an aperture 12 whereby it is adapted to the cor* responding link or ,clip 3, and being provided at its opposite end With a hook por# tion 13 Which engages the corresponding edge 14 of the clencher rim. The same expensive pressure of the inner tube Which retains the tire in place, obviously holds the hooks of the links 1l engaged with the rim; said hooks being interposed between the tire and riln. -With this construction they armor may be conveniently and quickl. by simply deflating the tire suflirciently to allow the hook links to be drawn out.

From the foregoin description it Will be seen that I accomplis the several objects of the invention hereinbefore stated and proremoved duce an extremely practical and efficient device.

It will be understood that the details of construction may be Inodied Without departing from the spirit of the invention in so far as its broader scope is concerned.

vI claim as my invention:

An armor for vehicle tires comprising a series of armor plates of rectangular configuration arranged edge to edge and grouped so that the corners of contiguous plates lie together in groups of four, and star-shaped links flexibly uniting the meeting edges of said plates.

MARTIN L. WILLIAMS. l/Vitnesses EMILIE Rose, FRANK L. BELKNAr. 

